Filth
by whimonda3110
Summary: Filth was everywhere in the Cesspool, and Beka had to be responsible for all four of them. Watching, stealing and whatever else was necessary.


**This is written for the Tamora Pierce Experiment Spring BINGO Prompt 'Mud'. It is set when Beka is eight, so Diona is 7, Lorine 5, Will 4 and Nilo 2. I tried to do Cesspool cant for the dialogue as best I could. If you read those bits aloud they make more sense **** I do not own Tortall or any of the characters. **

Brown hands and face, he was filthy again.

Beka sighed and pulled her brother off the street before attempting to clean his face with her tunic. Will squirmed and wriggled, "Beka git off" Mumbled the boy through the cloth.

"Shush you little mumper, how d'you get so grubby in jus under n'hour." She chastised gently. He only shrugged before ducking under her arm and running a little way up the street to re-join his friends. Beka sighed and looked around for the girls; she spotted them patting a stray dog and ran to make sure they didn't get bitten. In the Cesspool strays were normally flea-bitten and disease infested.

As she ran mud seeped over her feet and layered over the already dried crust of muck covering her toes. Once she was satisfied the girls were safe she was on the move again, this time to find food. Nilo was back with her mother but there was an appointment soon and Beka would need to take him, she had long since discovered the toddler was far more cooperative if she could offer him food. All the children were.

Stopping briefly she sniffed the air and felt her mouth water as scents drifted west from the rest of the Lower city and the Daymarket. She ducked up one alleyway, turned on to another and slipped through a tiny gap in a half collapsed wall to appear on Koskynen St, the edge of the Cesspool. At this point she was behind the group of stalls lining this part of the street, and that was why she had taken this route instead of coming up the main lane. One of the first thing children learnt in the Cesspool was how to steal, and how to use your knowledge of back paths and alleys to make the stealing easier.

Beka sat on her heels and waited patiently for some sort of distraction to arise, one normally did. A filcher moved through the small crowd of customers and Beka narrowed her eyes; he was clearly an amateur. This was made especially clear when he bumped the lady standing next to his victim; she spun, saw him and created an instant commotion. Beka tensed then sprung forward while the stall owner craned his neck to see the pickpocket, grabbing her prize she darted away and sprinted home.

As she reached her part of the street Diona and Lorine saw the two pasties she was holding and came racing up; mouths watering. Beka was pleased with the haul, too often she was seen and had to barely escape with nothing. The stupid thief had been a real piece of luck. "Where's Will?" she quickly questioned.

Diona shrugged, "Up ere somewhere, I s'pose, he'll smell food tho, d'worrit yourself bout im."

Beka sighed again and walked towards the couple of square metres in a building they called a house.

"Ma, I got food, I can take Nilo now." She called, but there was no answer. Walking into the room she heard soft crying and saw her brother curled on a chair sobbing softly.

"Nilo, wha's a matter? I got food, look." He gave a little gulp and looked at her before sucking gently on his fist. "Foo?" he bubbled.

"Yea food, where's ma?" Beka looked around confused, her mother had been in here with Dan, but neither of them were anywhere.

"Ma?!" she called with increasing volume and anxiety.

"Be..ka.." she heard the soft whisper from behind a big chair that was their only nice piece of furniture. Beka ran over and gasped at what she saw. Her mother was lying there bruised and bloody, barely conscious.

"Pox and murrain! Ma! Wha happ'nd, was it im, did e do this to ya?!"

"Shh Beka calm down. Im a'right." She saw the pasties. "Giv the food to tha kids."

"But Ma..."

"Do it Beka, Im a'right."

Beka felt pure rage consume her, how dare he do this to her Ma, to all of them. She stalked out from behind the chair and handed the pasties to Diona. "Dan bea' er up. Look aftr er an the kids. I'll be back soon." Diona's mouth fell open but she said nothing, just took the pasties and steered Lorine inside. "I'll save sum fer ya then Beka." She said quietly looking worried.

Beka ducked outside and ran straight into Will. His face and hands were covered in mud again.

"Someun said there wus food?"

Beka looked at him and his mud for a long moment.

"Inside."


End file.
